Por lo tanto o Por eso ??

Question

Cuál es la diferencia? por favor

Great question Ian - Izanoni1, Oct 8, 2009

Answer 1

por lo ~. 1. loc. adv. Por consiguiente, por lo que antes se ha dicho, por el motivo o las razones de que acaba de hablarse. U. t. c. loc. conjunt.

This is the definition of por lo tanto, and it can be used in the same way as por eso. However, por eso can also be used alone, por lo tanto is followed by a sentence.

A: No me gusta Pedro. B: Ya sé, es un poco raro. A: Por eso te lo digo.

Here por lo tanto would not be possible.

Son dos locuciones que se usan más o menos como se ha dicho antes: therefore (por lo tanto) and that's why (por eso)

Muchas gracias Heidi - ian-hill, Oct 8, 2009

Answer 2

I may be wrong on this, but I think that por lo tanto is taken to mean the same thing as therefore in English, and por eso is more like that's why, but both can be used in similar situations. Por lo tanto can also be used to mean meanwhile.

As a conjunction they might literally mean

Answer 3

I agree that "por lo tanto" means "therefore" & "por eso" means "that's why".

They are interchangeable in as much the same way as "therefore" & "that's why" are sometimes interchangeable in English.

Answer 4

Well they can both mean therefore, so I suspect there are some subtle differences where each one is used, maybe depending on context. Any insight from our Spanish speakers.